Ultimate SpiderMan: Tiger Rescue
by CynderFanForever
Summary: During a battle with Taskmaster, White Tiger is injured severely. One day, while recovering still, she helps her friends out against Taskmaster, and not only is she injured even more seriously, she is also taken by Taskmaster, who plans to kill her. Can Spider-Man and his team save her, or will they fail?
1. ONE HARD NIGHT

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN: TIGER RESCUE

CHAPTER ONE: ONE HARD NIGHT

Spider-Man swung over the rooftops of New York. He was going to randezvous with one of his team members. He landed on the side of a building, lifted up his right sleeve and looked at his watch underneath. The time was 8:45 P.M.

_Crap_, he thought. He was supposed to have met her ten minutes ago. He just decided he would tell her that he was "fashionably late."

Underneath his mask, Spider-Man was smiling. That was always his excuse if he were late.

He spun a web over to a building with a large tower. He swung over to it. He looked down and saw his team mate. She was waiting for him. Her name was White Tiger, also known as Ava Ayala. She had not heard him, so he jumped down behind her.

He tapped her on the shoulder, then said, "Good evening."

She jumped and whirled around, the claws on her gloves outstretched. He raised his hands in a surrender; those claws could cut through steel.

"Really, web-head?" she said. "I could have cut you right in half! What were you thinking?"

"Well, I wanted to catch you by surprise," he told her. "Is that so wrong?"

"No, but next time, land in front of me so that I don't have to cut you in half. You're my friend, and I don't want to do that to you."

He nodded. So did White Tiger. Her costume was mostly white with gray stripes. The cowl had two yellow eye holes and in the back was a hole where her long black hair could hang out.

Suddenly there was a loud scream that cut through the air. The two heroes began running. They looked over the edge of the building and saw a young lady on the ground.

Above her stood a cloaked man, who was holding a sword in his hand, which was raised above his head. Spider-Man and White Tiger recognized the villain as Taskmaster, who was able to copy every move a hero or a regular human made. The last time the two had fought him, they had defeated him, but then he escaped and they had not seen him since. But now he had returned, and they were going to make sure that he went to jail this time.

They both jumped down to the ground and confronted the villain. Now that Taskmaster was distracted, the young lady got up and ran away.

"Well, well, well," Taskmaster said in his deep voice. "If it isn't the two who defeated me what will be the first and last time."

Spider-Man spun a web at Taskmaster. Taskmaster cut it in half. Thinking he was distracted, White Tiger threw a kick. It knocked the sword out of his hand, but he was able to punch her with his other hand. She grunted. He then kneed her in the stomach. She fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Now it's time I use my new abilities, given to me by my employer." Taskmaster raised his hand. A blast of sonic energy was released from his glove and hit White Tiger in the chest. She flew into the window of a jewelry store.

Anger gathered in Spider-Man's body. Nobody hurt any of his team mates! But before he could do anything, Taskmaster released another blast of sonic energy, which hit him. Spider-Man hit the ground hard. He could tell that the sonic energy was silent, but he didn't know how.

Taskmaster went over to where White Tiger was laying. He picked her up by her throat.

"Welcome to your end, little girl," Taskmaster announced. He released the sonic energy once more and threw White Tiger on the ground.

Spider-Man looked up and saw what was happening. "TIGER, NO!" he yelled. He jumped over to Taskmaster and punched him in the back. He then kicked the villain. Taskmaster went flying into the jewelry shop, hit the large class counter at the front of the store.

Spider-Man looked down and saw White Tiger's unmoving body. He bent down and checked her pulse. It was barely there.

"Oh my God," whispered Spider-Man. "Ava, please don't be dead. Please don't be dead!" Just as police sirens could be heard, Spider-Man turned his communicator on and spoke into it. "Nick, it's Peter. Pick me up." He looked up and saw the clouds above him part. The S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier appeared and a large blue light appeared over the street. Spider-Man picked up White Tiger just as the teleporter began to work.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was in the helicarrier. Nick Fury ran over to him.

"Peter, what happened?" asked Nick. "What happened to Ava?"

"Taskmaster got her. She needs to go to the infirmary, Nick."

"Alright, I'll get her there. Come on." They ran to the infirmary. Just as the two double doors that led into the room opened, Peter could hear somebody say, "What just happened?" It belonged to Sam Alexander, A.K.A Nova, a member of the teenage team of heroes Peter led.

Peter went over to an infirmary bed and lay Ava down. Nick yelled for a couple of doctors.

Peter couldn't believe everything that had happened that night: Taskmaster had gotten more powerful, Ava had been injured, and now his team was one valuable member short.

The infirmary doors opened again and Sam came in, along with Danny Rand (A.K.A. Iron Fist) and Luke Cage (A.K.A. Power Man). When they saw Ava lying there on the bed they stopped in their tracks.

Nick looked from Peter to them, then told them, "You need to get out of here until we tell you that you can come back in. Please go."

The five teenage heroes made their way out of the room. None of them, especially Peter, felt right. Just as they stepped out of the room and the doors closed, Luke asked, "Peter, what happened?"

Peter sighed, took off his mask, and then told them everything that had happened. At the end of the narration, the doors finally opened back up and Nick stepped out.

"You can see Ava now," he announced to them, a grim expression upon his face.

The team stepped in and saw their injured team mate lying in the hospital bed. She was breathing slowly. The White Tiger costume lay on a table next to the bed.

Peter took a chair next to the bed and sat in it. "Ava," he said, "I wish that you weren't lying in this bed. It should be me right now. Taskmaster had no right to do that. But it was my fault for not protecting you like I should have. If it hadn't been for me just standing there like an idiot, you wouldn't be like this right now. I just hope that when you wake up, you'll forgive me for all of this."

Luke put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Everything will be alright in the future, Peter," he said.

"Yeah, but when exactly is that future, Luke? If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be like this right now! She would be here with us, just laughing and smiling! But no! She has to be lying here, injured and beaten, and all of it being my fault!"

Luke tried to tell Peter something, but before he could, Peter had gotten up and had stormed out of the infirmary.


	2. AVA

CHAPTER TWO: AVA

Ava opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings. She was in the infirmary in the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. She saw three of her team mates sitting in chairs next to her bed.

"What happened?" she whispered, looking at each one of them.

"Ava!" exclaimed Luke. "Thank God you're awake. You've been asleep for so long, we almost thought you were dead."

Ava just grunted. She looked at them again, but noticed that one person was missing.

"Where's Peter?" asked Ava.

"He kind of stormed off after he told us the whole story. So what happened exactly to Taskmaster?"

"I don't know. I was kind of unconscious at the time. But I would be surprised if he was arrested."

"Why is that, Ava?" asked Danny.

"Because the last time me and Peter beat him, he escaped," she explained to him. "So it wouldn't surprise me if he has escaped the police." Her throat was dry after saying all that, and pain was beginning to rise in her chest and abdomen. "You were there, Danny, but I think you were unconscious at the time."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that day," said Danny.

"Was that when Taskmaster posed as the new coach?" inquired Luke.

Ava nodded. A wave of tiredness came over her, pain was developing all over her body, and there was also a headache forming. She moaned as the pain increased on her body.

"You're not feeling too good, are you, Ava?" asked Sam. "I'm not surprised. You took a beating."

The double doors of the infirmary opened up again, and Peter came in. He was looking tired.

"I thought you'd left," mumbled Luke. "What do you need?"

"I came back just to see if Ava was alright," Peter explained. "So how do you feel, Ava?"

"I feel like crap," she told him. "But thanks for saving me, Pete. I really owe you for that."

"You don't really owe me anything. Saving people goes without somebody owing anything. And you especially don't owe anything, after all the crap you went through tonight."

"Thanks." Ava smiled, then closed her eyes. Peter could see that she was breathing slowly.

"Hey Ava, do you need some aspirin or some ice to take care of your pain?" Sam asked.

"Ice would be fine, Sam. The worst part is, the pain is all over my body. Taskmaster's new attack hit me all over the place."

"New attack?"

"He is now able to shoot sonic energy blasts from his gloves," she told them. "He said he had gotten the ability from his 'employer'. I wonder who exactly that is," Peter explained. "Taskmaster is more powerful than ever now, and if we all have to fight him, then we have a large disadvantage."

"And that is?" Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Wow, you're not so smart," Peter remarked, but Ava interrupted him before he could say anything else.

"Sam, you really don't get it?" He shook his head. "The big disavantage is that I can't be part of the team for quite a while until I fully recover. Do you see that now, Sam?"

Sam bowed his head. "Sorry, I just didn't realize that at first. Well, that's gonna suck. Your probably our best team member." He flashed a smiled at Peter, who smiled back. Peter didn't want to argue with Sam, especially now that Ava was terribly injured.

"Well, the one thing I have to ask is: How do we beat Taskmaster if he can copy our every move?" said Luke. "He's already beaten Ava, whose claws can cut through steel and has extreme agility. Who says that he won't be able to beat me or any of you guys?"

"Exactly," Peter agreed. "He hit me with that new ability of his, and it hurt terribly." Peter realized something. "Wait a minute, he hit me, and I didn't get up for another minute. But if I had just gotten up right after he had hit me, then I could've stopped Taskmaster from beating Ava. How stupid could I have been! Gah!" He hit himself in the head. Ava put her hand on his shoulder, but it was really painful to her. She pulled back her arm just after he looked back at her.

"Peter, you know that I forgive you for this. None of what happened to me was your fault. I was stupid enough to throw that kick at him and then think that he wouldn't expect me to throw a second one. It's my fault, not yours. Don't you see that?" To Peter, her hazel eyes were like a lie detector.

He bowed his head, then said, "I do. But I still feel so responsible for this, Ava, and I can't shake that feeling."

"It will all go away in time, Peter," she told him. She moaned as another, more terrible wave of pain washed over her. "Somebody please go and get me some ice. I really don't feel good right now. Also, go and get Nick."

She moaned again. Luke was about to go get Nick, but then Nick came into the infirmary.

"Ava, what's wrong?" he asked her as she moaned.

"It's the pain. It keeps hurting me," she answered. She moaned even louder than before, and Nick called the doctors over to help her. They pulled out a needle and gave Ava a dose of sedatives. Just as the fluid was inserted into her body, her eyes drooped and she fell asleep.

Peter and the others looked away. Peter felt anger against Taskmaster for injuring Ava so severely. Luke put his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Hey Nick," said Luke, "can Peter sleep here with us? We've got room."

"Sure. But he'll have to leave in the morning probably. Right, Peter?"

"No, Aunt May took a vacation. She won't be back until Friday. Today's Monday, so I've got time."

"Oh. Well, then I guess you may stay here until then. Luke, Sam, Danny, show Peter where you guys sleep. Just a warning, Peter: Sam snores." A smirk appeared on the corner of Nick's lips, but it seemed more grim than gleeful. Peter couldn't blame him; he felt that exact way.

Peter could see Sam also smiling. With a last look at Ava, the four teens walked out of the infirmary. Once they were out, Peter asked Sam, "Why are you smiling? I thought you hated jokes like that. When I say them, you get offended and try to defend yourself."

"I'm smiling only because, in times like these, smiles are always needed," Sam answered. They turned down a hallway and then turned left. The other three stopped in front of it.

"Is this where you guys sleep?" Peter said.

"Yeah, when we're stuck up here and not at home," Luke said. He slid a card through a slot to the right and then the door opened. Peter stepped in and saw five beds. Three of them were connected, and the other two were alone and were right next to each other. The lights in the room gave it a warm feel.

"So where do you guys sleep?"

"We sleep in the bunk beds."

"Okay. And where do I sleep?"

"That bed with the red blanket on top of it," said Sam. Peter nodded and went to that bed. He lay down, then looked over to the bed next to him. It had a white blanket with gray stripes going across.

"Whose bed is that, Sam?" Peter asked.

"That bed would be Ava's," Sam answered. "It's not that hard to guess, since the blanket is the same color as a white tiger, which, as you know, is her superhero name."

"She sleeps in here with you guys?" Peter was shocked.

"Well, it's not too hard for her. She likes talking just as much as we do, but she falls asleep just before we do, and after that, it's actually a little bit quite," Danny explained to him. "You wouldn't expect that, now would you?"

"No, not at all. She seems like she would hate to sleep in here with you guys. I mean, she makes fun of us a lot, you know?"

"Yeah, well, she actually thinks of us as her brothers, and she loves us that way. It's like she's our sister. She even said that she thinks of you as a brother." At that, all four of them smiled and began to laugh. Peter hadn't felt like that for a while, especially since Ava was injured. Luke stopped laughing.

"You know, Ava actually said she would want you as a brother more," he told Peter. "Ava never really had much of a family. Her parents died when she was young, and she hasn't seen her brother for four years. She feels right at home when she's with us, but mostly when she's with you. That's something that she probably doesn't do often."

Peter smiled to himself. He closed his eyes just as Luke turned off the lights with a switch on the wall next to Ava's bed.

The last thing he hoped was that Ava would be okay and that she would make a fast recovery.


	3. INTERROGATION

CHAPTER THREE: INTERROGATION

Taskmaster entered the lab. His employer stood near the many computers that were littered across the lab. He was watching the surveilance of Taskmaster's battle against Spider-Man and White Tiger. The part he was watching now was where Taskmaster had used his new power on White Tiger. Otto Octavius was not very happy obviously, as he was shaking and grunts could be heard.

"Not in a good mood, Octavious?" asked Taskmaster.

"I'm not in a good mood because you almost killed one of Spider-Man's team mates, which was not one of my orders!" said Octavius in his raspy voice. "My orders were specifically to knock Spider-Man out, then one of his team mates, leave the team mate for the others to come and get, and then bring Spider-Man to me so that we could unmask him for Mr. Osborn, and then experiment on him and get his DNA! Only then would you have been allowed to kill his team mates! White Tiger is one of the more powerful, and I know that you wanted to get rid of her more because of that, but you could've saved killing her for another time, Taskmaster!"

"What's so wrong with getting something out of the way already? I would've had to deal with her later, and so I just wanted to get all of it out of my way and save room for other, much more important things," Taskmaster explained.

"Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Octavius. "What a large amount of crap! You know that she's probably still alive! Also, here's another thing: because of those sonic blasts, I was unable to get any audio on this video! You stupid idiot! And the main reason why I think she's still alive is because, on the video, the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier appears and takes them up into it."

"Is that so? Well then, it seems like I have a lot more work to do. She needs to die, and I will make sure that she does finally die!"

"How in God's name will you pull that off?" Octavius cut in. "Because of you, the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. team will probably be protecting her. And I order you to not kill her! If you do so, I will have to fire you, and I know that you want all this money me and Osborn are paying you."

Taskmaster laughed. Suddenly the two sliding doors of the lab opened up and Norman Osborn came in. He said, "Octavius, I heard about the new abilities you gave to Taskmaster, and I must say, I like them. Do you have any experience of fighting with the new abilities, though, Taskmaster?"

"Yes, but much of it was used on a little girl," Taskmaster told him. When Osborn's eyes widened, Taskmaster went on. "Not what you are thinking of, Norman. The little girl I am talking about is one of Spider-Man's allies, White Tiger. She got in my way while I was trying to capture Spider-Man, and so I used some of the power on her. From what I know, she was seriously injured by the blast, but Spider-Man saved her, and now S.H.I.E.L.D. is probably nursing her back to full health. All I want to do now is to kill her. Will you allow me to do so, Norman, or do you want me to hold off on that until I bring Spider-Man to you?"

"Hmmm," said Osborn. "That doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Taskmaster, I believe that this is one of your best ideas! We need to make sure that all of his allies die before he does."

Octavius gritted his teeth and began to grind them. "Mr. Osborn, this is not a good idea! What we should do is defeat Spider-Man, bring him back here, then experiment on him. But what we could do is knock one of his team mates unconscious, then bring them back here and interrogate them. If they do not tell us anything, then we can kill them. Does that seem like a good idea, Mr. Osborn?"

"Actually, it does. I'm sorry, Taskmaster, but I must pick the decision that will not lead me into bankruptcy."

Taskmaster was in disbelief: How was his idea going to put Osborn in bankruptcy? That was always his excuse for everything. "Bankruptcy" this, "bankruptcy" that, it was the excuse that he seemed to never get tired of.

"Will you ever listen to me, Osborn?" he asked. "You always choose Octavius's plans over mine. Why is that always the truth, eh?"

"Well, it isn't my fault, I just don't want to go bankrupt. It's also not my fault that you're a money-obsessed man."

"Money-obsessed? I think not, Osborn. Rethink that sentence."

"Right now, you're just being a stingy, money-obsessed crab. It's beginning to show, so don't try to deny it." A vein was pulsing in Norman Osborn's head.

Taskmaster just laughed. "What're you talking about, Osborn? I'm no stingy, money-obsessed crab. If so, my cloak wouldn't be the color it is now. It'd be either green or red." This was supposed to be a joke.

"Shut up," ordered Norman. "I want you to knock Spider-Man unconscious, and then I want you to knock one of his team mates unconscious. I wouldn't mind it being another one of his friends, but it would be better to you probably if it was White Tiger." Osborn flashed a smile at Taskmaster.

Taskmaster grunted. "I will win this battle, and no one will be able to beat me, this I swear!"

"Have fun with that, Taskmaster," Octavius said. He brushed back his long hair and went back to looking at video surveilance. He replayed the part where Taskmaster injured White Tiger with his sonic blast. Osborn was also watching the surveilance. He turned to Taskmaster.

"I must say, you did well with that battle, but you need to make sure that if you ever go into battle with her again, never kill her. She seems like a person we could get much information out of. One disadvantage is that she seems like a very formidable opponent when at full health, wouldn't you say, Octavius?"

"Yes, sir, I do." Octavius smiled. He had not smiled in a long time.

Osborn walked away. "Bring me Spider-Man; bring me her, but do not kill her, Taskmaster."

Taskmaster bowed. "Yes, sir." He knew that they were done talking. In his mind, he knew that when he captured White Tiger, he would do his best to kill her without Osborn knowing.

Underneath his mask, Taskmaster was smiling. "Welcome to your end, White Tiger."


	4. SURPRISE

CHAPTER FOUR: SURPRISE

Peter walked through the halls of Midtown High School. Though it was very sunny outside, it was raining inside his heart.

Ava was still in the infirmary, her wounds being treated by the doctors. Though he and the rest of his team were at school today, it didn't feel right without Ava. She usually was just in the hall along with everyone else, talking to friends or to a teacher about homework. But none of that was there today.

Peter went to his locker and opened it. As soon as he put what he no longer needed that day into it, the bell that signaled lunch rang. He walked to the cafeteria slowly, still thinking about how different it felt that day without Ava.

Once he entered the lunchroom, he passed right by the table where he and his friends Harry Osborn and Mary Jane Watson usually sat and went to the table where Luke, Danny and Sam were sitting.

"Would you mind if I sat here?" he asked them.

"Sure, Peter," said Luke. He had one of his hands on his forehead. As Peter sat down, he saw that, despite all of them sitting at the small table (which had only five seats, compared to the usual fifteen on larger ones), one seat was empty.

"Let me guess, that empty seat is where Ava usually sits?" he asked them. Luke only nodded.

It seemed that none of them felt right without Ava being there. All four of them sat there in silence, not even going up to eat lunch.

"Nothing feels right anymore," said Danny, finally breaking the silence. "Ava's usually here, making everybody laugh, but without that, this table is nothing but a regular table, despite who is sitting at it right now."

Everyone else agreed.

"How can any of her other friends make it without her being here?" Luke wondered aloud.

"They've got other friends, that's how, Peter told him.

"You do too. How come you're not sitting with Harry and Mary Jane right now, Peter?"

"I decided to come over here just to be with you guys. We all need help dealing with this right now. Maybe we should ask Coulson if he can let us leave school early to go to the helicarrier."

"Yeah, that does seem like a good idea," Sam said. "But what's the point? We're going there after school, after all. We only have a few more periods left to go, so that's not too long."

"Yeah, that's true," Peter admitted. "But it still doesn't feel right. I mean-" Suddenly his Spidey-Sense went off. It was like an alarm clock, telling him that danger was nearby.

"Get down," he yelled. Just as he ducked, there was an explosion, and rubble flew everywhere.

When Peter looked up, he saw Taskmaster standing in front of the hole in the wall. "Hello again, students," he said. "I haven't seen you since I posed as your new gym teacher. Anyway, I want to say that I want Spider-Man! I know that he attends this school! I used to think it was Danny Rand, Harry Osborn, or Flash Thompson, but now I know that it is neither of them, thanks to them walking in on a battle between me, Spider-Man and White Tiger. Now, what you do not know is that she, White Tiger, also attends this school. I don't know who she is, but I will find out! She probably isn't here though. And that would be because I severely injured her in a fight not too long ago. But all I want right now is for the real Spider-Man to step forward! Come out, come out, Spider! I know that you're here somewhere!"

Sam, who could not be seen by Taskmaster, released a blast of energy from his hand, which caused a small explosion, and gave enough of a distraction that all of the team could get into their costumes.

Just as the smoke cleared, Taskmaster saw the team standing there. Looking at them. Missing one member. That made him smile and begin to laugh.

"Well, well, well," he said. "If it isn't the young team of heroes that tried so hard to defeat me. Missing someone, aren't you?" Spider-Man clenched his fists. "You are the one who is most mad at me, Spider-Man. You were the one who saw her be injured and almost killed. When I see White Tiger again, I will kill her, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Power Man ran at Taskmaster. Taskmaster dodged and then released the sonic energy on him. It didn't affect him like Taskmaster had thought, though.

"What the-?"

"I have bullet-proof skin. It's hard to get through it." Power Man gave a smile.

"Hmmm...that does seem like a drawback, now doesn't it?"

Spider-Man looked behind him and saw a news helicopter. It was obviously recording this.

Suddenly he felt a large pain in his chest and was thrown back into a wall. Taskmaster had used his sonic energy. Nova and Iron Fist had been thrown back too. And it seemed that there had been so much power that even Power Man had been thrown back.

Taskmaster then said to them, "Welcome to the end."

* * *

Ava lay in her infirmary bed. She was watching the small TV in front of her. She hated that she had been injured, and her fake reason for it was that there was nothing on TV anymore.

She sighed. A wave of tiredness came over her. She vowed that when she recovered enough, she would beat Taskmaster for making her lay in this bed.

"God, this just sucks," she groaned. "Why the heck am I sitting in this bed? I just want to go out there and beat some bad guys up, not do this." She picked up the remote and changed the channel to the news.

She was about to change it again when she saw what was being reported. She saw her school, but there was a hole in the wall. Inside was the lunchroom. She could see the one person she hated the most right now, Taskmaster...standing over Spider-Man, his sword drawn.

"Oh my God," Ava whispered. Her eyes widened.

She knew that she had to do something. She looked over to her White Tiger costume and smiled.

* * *

Spider-Man looked up at Taskmaster. "You're gonna kill us now, aren't you?" he asked.

"You're not, dumb," Taskmaster said. "Amazing. I thought that sense you are on a team with White Tiger, you would be very dumb. That just goes to show you, there is always the smart and the dumb on every team."

Spider-Man was shaking with rage. "You little piece of crap! Talk about Tiger like that again and I will make sure that all of your bones are broken."

Taskmaster just laughed. "Is that so? Well, I wonder what your team mates would do. They don't seem like they would be cold-blooded murderers. Or are they all like you?"

Nova looked up. "I don't think he said he was gonna kill you. But I do agree with Spider-Man."

"So do I," said Power Man.

"So do I," said Iron Fist.

"Then that means that all of you are just killers," Taskmaster told them. "Of course, I don't know about White Tiger. She never seemed to want to kill a person. But then again, I have heard that she can cut through steel. But that must obviously be a lie, because she got the crap beaten out of her by me."

About to punch him, Spider-Man was getting up when Taskmaster put his sword to his neck. "Welcome to your end, Spider-Man."

Spider-Man looked around and saw Harry and Mary Jane looking at him, both of them in tears. With that thought in his mind, he closed his eyes, and then awaited the final blow. He knew he could spin out of the way, but he didn't want to endanger his friends' lives.

Just as Taskmaster was about to behead him, he was kicked from behind. He whirled around to see who it was. There was the sound of nails against metal.

Spider-Man looked up and saw Taskmaster be punched from behind. When he fell to the ground, Spider-Man looked up to see who had just saved him. When he saw, his eyes widened.

Standing above the unconscious body of Taskmaster was White Tiger.

She shrugged, then said, "Surprise?"


	5. TAKEN

CHAPTER 5: TAKEN

"Tiger, what the heck are you doing here?" exclaimed Power Man. "You should be resting!"

"Yeah, I know, but I saw what was happening on the news, and so I decided to come and see if you guys needed some help," she told them.

"Are you still in pain?" asked Spider-Man.

"I'm still limping a little bit, and I've been having a bit of pain there and in my chest, but I'm doing good nonetheless," she explained. "But I bet Fury won't be happy when we get back to the helicarrier."

Suddenly, Taskmaster stirred, picked up his sword, jumped up, and aimed it right at Spider-Man.

"NO!" White Tiger jumped in front of the sword. She caught the sword in her hand, but then Taskmaster took the sword back, faked a throw at her leg, and then thrust it forward, and Spider-Man could only watch as the sword sunk right into White Tiger's side.

A red blotch appeared where her side was, and she fell to her knees, grunting. "You little-" He punched her across the face. Spider-Man was about to throw his own punch at Taskmaster, but the villain had already wrapped his hand around her neck and had thrown a gas canister to the ground. It activated, and smoke began filling the spot.

"NO!" Spider-Man heard Nova yell, and one of his energy blasts cleared the smoke. But when they looked for a sign of Taskmaster or White Tiger, all they saw was a small bit of blood where she had stood just seconds before.

Power Man growled, then punched a pillar and almost broke it in half. Spider-Man fell to his knees. He couldn't believe that she was gone. Iron Fist touched his shoulder.

"I can't believe this has happened," Spider-Man said. "All I had to do was block the sword and then none of this would have happened."

"You're right," said Nova. "All of this is your fault! She wouldn't have been taken if you had just blocked Taskmaster's sword! What the heck is wrong with you, eh? TELL ME!"

Spider-Man saw the other students staring at them. All of them were in shock at what had happened.

Spider-Man got up and called into his communicator, "Nick, pick us up." He motioned for the others to follow him out of the school.

He saw that the helicopter had gone away. The appearance of a bright blue light signaled the presence of the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. The four were taken up into the helicarrier and then found themselves facing Fury, who was looking angry. The team took off their masks.

"Do any of you know where Ava is?" he asked.

They did not answer him right away.

"Well?" he continued. "Do you?"

"Yes, sir," answered Nova. "She came to our rescue while we were getting our butts kicked. Though she stopped Taskmaster for a short while, he woke back up, and then was about to stab and kill Peter, but Ava stood in the way, and then Taskmaster stabbed her. He took her afterwards. We don't know where she is, though. He must have taken her somewhere where we won't be able to find her."

"I see. Sam, it seems like you're shaking with anger. Why is that?"

"I blame Peter for this. He froze when Taskmaster came at him, and so Ava jumped in front of him. And you know what happened next."

"I do." Fury bowed his head. "But don't blame Peter for this. It wasn't his fault. The only person I blame right now is Ava."

"Wait, what?" exclaimed Peter. "Now I do agree with Sam. You have no right to blame Ava for this! Yes, she was injured, but all she wanted to do was come and help us! What's the problem with that?"

"EVERYTHING!" Fury roared. "SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO STAY IN THAT INFIRMARY UNTIL EVERY WOUND ON HER BODY WAS HEALED!"

Peter hated Fury for this. "That's just crap! She couldn't stand seeing her team mates killed on TV! She came to our rescue! She was taken, yes, but she gave herself up to save us! More me than anyone else!"

"So what?" said Fury. "That doesn't help at all, Peter. And you know that it doesn't help at all."

Peter turned around and stormed back to the bedroom. Once there, he flung himself onto his bed and just thought.

Why hadn't he moved out of the way when Taskmaster came at him with the sword? It wouldn't have been hard. He had the right amount of agility and reflexes. That's all it would have taken him to get out of the way. But no, he had to just stand there and let Ava jump in front of him and get stabbed by Taskmaster, then taken by him to a place that Peter could already guess was unpleasant.

It was all his fault, Sam had said. _And Sam is right,_ Peter thought. _It is all my fault! Why did I just stand there when Taskmaster came at me with that sword! Ava could be here with me now if I hadn't just stood there and watched him come closer and closer to me! What kind of an idiot am I, to have let a friend of mine almost die TWICE where my choices could've made the difference. Sam is right, it is my fault, and nobody can tell me otherwise. Not Fury, not Sam, Luke, Danny, or, if he was able to find her and save her, even Ava._

The doors opened and Sam, Luke, and Danny came in. All of them had grim expressions on their faces.

"Guys, Sam is right, it is all my fault," Peter told them.

"No, it's not," said Sam. "It's not your fault at all. It's nobody's fault, Pete. I'm sorry, I just didn't think what I was about to say. But there is somebody to blame, and that would be Taskmaster. He had no right to do that to Ava, and we will get our revenge on him, believe me. We will save Ava and then defeat Taskmaster, Peter. I swear this to you."

"Thanks, Sam." Peter gave a small smile. Afterwards, the four got into their pajamas and lay in bed, still thinking.

"Hey Pete," said Luke, "could you turn off the lights?"

Peter reached for the light switch and flicked the lights off. Just before he did so, he took a look at Ava's empty bed. When the lights went off, Peter had just one thing in mind:

_Please don't let her die!_


	6. THE TORTURE

CHAPTER 6: THE TORTURE

White Tiger opened her eyes. She could tell that she was strapped to a chair. Chains held her hands behind the chair. The thing she noticed the most was that she was drugged. If she wasn't drugged so much, she would electrify her claws and cut through the chains.

"Hello, White Tiger," greeted a low, raspy voice. "It's different to see you here, chained to this chair. I usually see you fighting enemies and destroying my robots. But now you're nothing but defenseless, chained and injured. I stopped the bleeding of that wound as well as I could without taking off your costume, which I know you would not have wanted. Now tell me, why are you so weak against Taskmaster, eh? Everytime you go up against him, you are either knocked unconscious or you are injured."

"Shut up!" said White Tiger. Her throat was dry. "I'm not just gonna sit here and be the little damsel-in-distress, waiting for one of my friends to come and save me before you kill me!"

"Kill you? I think not. What we are doing instead is torturing you until you give up S.H.I.E.L.D. and your team's greatest secrets."

"I'm never going to betray my friends by telling you information like that. I'd rather die than tell you such crap like that."

"Well, bad news for you: we won't be killing you at all. Believe that all you want, but it's not going to happen. I'm sorry, but it's my employer's orders to do this."

"Who is your employer?" White Tiger grunted.

"I cannot tell you anything like that, little girl," the voice said. "I am sorry, but there would be serious consequences for me if I told you such things."

"Let me guess, your employer again?" she asked. "I will ask one last time: who the heck is your employer? And who the heck are you?"

"My name is Otto Octavius. But once again, White Tiger, I cannot tell you who my employer is. Do you want me to be killed? If so, then I think S.H.I.E.L.D. would not be the best place for you. I don't know where you could go, but I believe there is an underground assassin agency. Does that suit you? I would think so. But what do you think?"

"I think not. I don't want you dead, but you do deserve to go to jail. And that's all I have to say."

"Is it?" said the voice of Taskmaster. "Well, well, well, if it isn't White Tiger, who is now dealing with a sword wound instead of wounds received from the sonic energy blasts."

"Oh no, I'm still recovering from those wounds, but not as much. This sword wound doesn't matter much to me. All that matters is that I get out of here and that I defeat you."

Taskmaster laughed. The booming laugh echoed through the place. It was a cave. But it wasn't like any regular cave. There seemed to be a small lab in one spot and the rest of the room seemed to be taken up by computers that displayed what looked like surveilance video. One of the videos showed her being hit by one of the sonic energy blasts. This made White Tiger angry.

"Why you little-" Taskmaster stepped forward and slapped her across the face.

"Taskmaster! Be careful! If you do that, then you may cause her to not want to talk!"

"I'm not gonna talk anyway," she told them defiantly. "You want me to be a damsel-in-distress? Not gonna happen! I'm gonna get out of my chains, and then I'm gonna kick your big ugly butts. You understand?"

This time both Octavius and Taskmaster laughed. White Tiger felt the effects of the drugs beginning to wear off. That made her feel better. She was even able to get some of the strength in her limbs back, along with her feet and hands.

She moved her fingers. They were still stiff, and she would have to wait for a bit more before she could use her claws to get out of the chains.

"I'm amazed," said Taskmaster. "Most people would have given up already, but you have not. Amazing. S.H.I.E.L.D. has trained you very well. But all that training will be a loss when you fight me. I almost killed you three times, if you count that time I kicked you through the door and you broke through the railing, and then Spider-Man saved you."

"Sorry, I don't count that, since I may not have died from that fall. I might have just been seriously injured. Spider-Man doesn't count that either," she told him. "I'll count the sonic energy blasts and the sword for you, though. But that's all I'll agree with you on."

"That's fine. But you will agree with me on much more when all this is over."

"And why the heck is that?"

"Because I'm going to seriously torture you, and then, when it's all over-" Taskmaster stopped when Octavius came over to them with a syringe.

"What the heck is that?" yelled White Tiger.

"It's a fluid that will cause you to become disoriented with your surroundings," Octavius explained. "Don't worry, though, it won't kill you."

"Why do you want me to be disoriented?"

"Because my employer will be coming to see you. And you must not know who he is."

"I will find out who he is no matter what, and there's nothing that you can do to stop me."

"Are you so sure?" asked Taskmaster. "You shouldn't be."

"Shut up," snapped White Tiger. "I'm not giving up here. You want me to be a little Cinderella and give up so that you can make me a damsel-in-distress? It's not gonna happen."

"Hahaha!" Octavius laughed. "Don't be so sure. There is a process I can use to open up your mind to total insanity. I don't want to use it on you, but I will if I am ordered to or if I have too."

As she struggled, he stepped forward and injected the fluid into her arm. She began to pant and then fell asleep. When she woke up, she heard an elevator open, and then a voice she had heard only once in her entire life entered her ear.

"So do you have Spider-Man, Octavius?" the man asked.

"No, Mr. Osborn," answered Octavius.

Osborn? White Tiger thought. Harry Osborn's dad? What is he doing, working with that psycho? Was that the employer they had been talking about? When she got out of here, she would be telling Spider-Man about this. She was hoping that Harry didn't know.

"So why did you call me here?" he said. "I have more important things to do, you know."

"Yes, I know. But I called you here because I have one of his little allies. Really, one of the more infamous. Well, infamous to Taskmaster, at least."

"Who is that?"

"White Tiger."

"She's here? Well, that is quite unexpected. Who caught her?"

"Taskmaster did. She came to save her friends when Taskmaster was about to kill them. He stabbed her, and then brought her back here."

"Well, he didn't kill her, and so I'm glad for that," said Norman. "But show me where she is."

Out of the corner of her eye, White Tiger could see Octavius bringing Norman over to her.

"Well, well, well, I haven't seen her in person since Venom first escaped. She and Spider-Man and the rest of that team defeated him. Is she unconscious right now?"

"Yes, she is. I gave her a dose of sedatives that will keep her unconscious for about another ten minutes."

White Tiger knew it was time to tell them that she was not unconscious.

"So you still think I'm unconscious?" she asked. "Well, you both thought wrong."

Osborn turned to Octavius. "I thought you said she was unconscious!" he yelled. "Why didn't you make sure?"

"You can't make sure all the time, Norman," she said. "Tell me, why is Harry Osborn's father the true employer of these guys?"

"You know my son?"

"I went to that party he threw when Venom escaped."

"What is your real name, little girl?"

"I'm not going to tell you. You want that information? Too bad; I'm never going to give it to you!" White Tiger defiantly roared.

Norman slapped her across the face. He grasped her neck. "You will give me information on your true identity and on S.H.I.E.L.D., or I will make sure that Taskmaster kills you! Do you understand?" he threatened.

"Oh, I understand, but I don't give a crap," she told him. "Once I gain enough energy, I will break out of my chains, and then I will escape."

Osborn's eyes were filled with anger. Then his eyes traveled down to where her amulet was.

"What is this, may I ask?" he said, picking it off of her belt.

"Give that back!" White Tiger yelled.

"Why? Is this your source of energy?"

"No, it's a family heirloom!" She was lying. She had taken the amulet from a museum because she felt like it was telling her to. Ever since then, it had given her more agility than ever.

"I think you are lying," he told her. He slapped her across the face once again. "Octavius, begin her torturing!"

Octavius reached one of the long tentacles that seemed to be attached to his back. White Tiger closed her eyes and waited for the pain. But she would not give up the hope of escaping. She would get out of her chains, and then she would defeat Octavius, Taskmaster, and Osborn and send them all off to jail. But her main disadvantages were her wounds and the absence of her amulet.

As she closed her eyes and waited for the torture to begin, she heard Octavius say, "Time to peel back the layers of your mind."


	7. AFTERMATH

CHAPTER 7: AFTERMATH

Peter opened his eyes. It was the day after Taskmaster had attacked the school, Ava had come to save him, and Taskmaster stabbed her and took her away to an unknown place.

He saw Luke, Danny, and Sam beginning to stir. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Nick came into the room. He had a grim expression on his face again. Peter knew it was because Ava had been taken.

"Good morning," he greeted. "I know that all of you are still waking up, but I have something to say."

"And what exactly do you have to say?" Sam cut in. He was obviously still unhappy about Fury's comments.

"I am sorry about saying that all of what happened yesterday, including the kidnapping, was Ava's fault. Ava was obviously trying to help you, and I see that if it hadn't been for her, then some of you would be dead. Once again, I am very sorry."

Fury turned and left the room.

"He'd better be sorry," Sam muttered. "He had no right to blame Ava for her kidnapping. If it hadn't been for her, then we might all be dead right now."

"Exactly," said Peter. "But you have to admit, you said something that you're not proud of yesterday. You know?"

"You've got a point, Pete. Sorry about that, I just wasn't thinking. I probably should've been."

"Hey, everybody makes mistakes," Luke said. "We just have to know how to deal with them."

"Exactly," Danny agreed. "I was once told, 'A strong mind enables strong words.' I never knew if it was true, but it may be, you know?"

"Yeah, we get you," Luke said. "But now all we have to worry about is finding Ava and Taskmaster and Taskmaster's employer."

"If we can find them to begin with," Danny muttered.

"Well, we can't give up hope, Danny."

"I know that, Pete, but it may be hard to find those that took her. Why couldn't we have put a tracker on Taskmaster or something? If we get her back, I'm going to ask Fury to put a tracker on Ava's tiger amulet."

"Yeah." Peter put his hands through his hair. He hadn't been able to sleep well that night. The thought of one of his enemies killing Ava had been large in his mind and nightmares had played over and over again in his mind. They got even worse with each one.

"I'm gonna go see if there's anything for breakfast," Peter told them. "Chances are, there is nothing to eat, and we'll have to go into the city to find something. Like a diner or something."

"I'm right behind you," Sam told him.

They left the room and made their way to the cafeteria. When they entered, they saw Coulson sitting at a table by himself, his hands covering his face. Without going to the front where the food was, Peter and Sam went over to that table and sat on either side of him.

"Are you alright?" asked Sam.

"No, I'm not," Coulson told them. "I'm not getting enough sleep, not since Ava was injured."

"You too?" said Peter and Sam at the same time. They glanced over at each other, eyebrows raised.

"So you've not gotten much sleep since all this happened either? I'm glad I'm not the only one. Well, at least I've had no nightmares."

"I have," Peter mumbled.

"Really?" asked Coulson. "What were they about?"

"They were about Ava being tortured by someone, and then, at the end, somebody else took out a knife and stabbed Ava through her heart. She died in the dream, and that's usually when I wake up, sweating like a dog."

"Hmm, that seems like something we need to work out. I'd say we work it out over at that diner close to your school. Go and get Luke and Danny." But as soon as he said that, Luke and Danny walked into the cafeteria. "Nevermind, we don't have to wait for one of you to get them at all. We all know Sam would take forever getting them here."

All of them gave a little bit of a laugh. It was not the same without Ava.

"So where are we going, Coulson?" asked Luke.

"We are going to a diner to talk about all that has happened," Coulson said. "Make sure to bring your costumes with you, by the way."

About an hour later, the teens entered the diner. All of them had their costume underneath their clothes or, in Sam and Luke's case, in a duffel bag.

After ordering five coffees, Coulson turned back to the team. "So how have you guys been holding up since yesterday?"

"Not well," Peter admitted. "It's been hard. Ava's one of our best team mates, and she's also the one who keeps us from falling apart most of the time. Without her, we could fall apart at any given second. Taskmaster will pay for what he has done to us and her."

"I agree with you, Pete," Sam said. "I can't wait to see that slimy eel again and beat his face in."

"Well, let's not go that far," Luke interrupted. "If we did that, then we could kill him, and we're not allowed to kill, you know?"

"Can't we always make exceptions?" asked Sam. Peter hit him in the arm. "Ow! What the heck was that for?"

"You know that we don't kill without a reason," Peter told him.

"Yeah? And why on earth is that, Parker?"

"Because-well, I can't really explain it too well."

"Oh. Well, when you can, please remember to tell me."

For a few seconds the table was very silent. But then Danny finally broke the silence. Peter sighed.

"None of this seems right!" he exclaimed. "We're not allowed to kill, and I agree that that is a good thing, but Taskmaster will deserve some form of punishment for what he has done to Ava, don't you guys agree?"

"That's true," Coulson said. "He will deserve a type of punishment, but it won't include killing him. Maybe we should just lock him up in a prison."

"He would probably find a way to escape," said Peter.

"That's true. But is there anything we can do to make sure that he can't escape? Like take off his cloak and then unmask him? That would seem like the best idea."

"It would, but you know how hard he is to defeat. The first time I ever really fought him, it took both me and Ava to do so. And that wasn't without one of us being knocked unconscious or injured. Ava was kicked by Taskmaster through a door and then through a metal rail. If it hadn't been for me saving her, I personally do think she could be dead."

"And I was knocked unconscious too," said Danny. "Well, he now knows that I'm not Spider-Man. But I don't think he'll stop until he does find out who Spider-Man really is."

At these words there was a little bit of silence. Then it was finally broken by Coulson clearing his throat, and then he began to speak again.

"So when will you guys go up against Taskmaster and get Ava back?" he said. "You know it's going to be hard to do such a thing when he's already been able to knock you all to the ground with a single raise of his hand. He's more cunning than you think. As you know, he will copy any move you make and use it as if it is his own ability. Peter, you already saw that during your first fight with him. Didn't you say that he copied your movies, came close to injuring you, and then copied Ava's moves and knocked her through a door and a rail, also knocking her unconscious?"

"Yeah, he did. Look, the more I talk about this, the harder it is to just stand here and talk about Taskmaster and Ava without getting up and running around the whole city, all while tearing it apart to find him and her," he explained to them. Danny, Sam, and Luke all bobbed their heads in agreement.

Suddenly Peter's Spidey-Sense went off. Just like back at the lunchroom, he yelled, "Get down!"

After doing so, a car came right through the window of the diner. It landed at the front.

Peter and the others saw 4 metal arms come down in front of them. Peter knew it was Doctor Octopus, a villain he had fought before. The last time he had fought him, the lab the battle was being held in had been destroyed by an unknown assailant. Peter wondered how Doctor Octopus was still alive.

"I want to know where I can find Spider-Man!" he announced gruffly. "Have any of you seen him?"

"No, we haven't," Luke told him, getting up off the floor. "If you wanna find him, then you're gonna have a big problem, I believe."

Doctor Octopus hit Luke in the chest with one of his metal arms. Luke, though not hurt, flew through another one of the windows.

Sam put his hand behind his back. "Is it alright if we start to leave yet?" he asked Octopus.

"If you want to be cowards, then pick up your friend and get out of here!" demanded Octopus.

Sam nodded. He motioned for the others to follow him. After getting out of the diner, Peter helped Luke up, and then the five of them disappeared down an alleyway.

"Are you guys really going up against him?" asked Coulson.

"Sure," said Peter. "I beat him by myself. If there's four of us, imagine what can happen! We could beat him in a matter of seconds!"

The four teens changed into their costumes, then ran back to the diner and jumped through the broken windows. Doctor Octopus looked over at them and his eyes widened in surprise. His lips curled in a smile.

"Long time, no see, Spider-Man," he said.

"Hey Doc," greeted Spider-Man. "I'm surprised you're here, since the last time I saw you, you were unconscious and I was trying to save you from drowing. So tell me, why did your employer cause the lab to implode?"

"I don't know. But it doesn't matter anymore. He employed me once more, so now I'm more happy than ever," Doctor Octopus said.

He thrust a metal arm at Spider-Man. He dodged it, and then said quickly, "Crazy stalker said what?"

"What?" exclaimed Octopus, confused.

"Haha," laughed Spider-Man. "Too easy!"

Growling, Octopus sent two of his arms at Spider-Man. Seeing that Octopus could barely balance on that one arm left on the ground, Spider-Man spun a web and wrapped it around the arm. He pulled with all his strength. With a yell, Octopus fell forward and hit his head on one of the tables.

Spider-Man jumped over to check his pulse, and realized that he was unconscious. Underneath his mask, he was smiling.

That was when Fury came running in. "What the heck?" he exclaimed, seeing the four heroes standing over the unconscious body of Doctor Octopus. "What are you all doing here?"

"Nothing really," said Nova. "Just sitting here, drinking coffee, beating up bad guys, you know what I mean?"

"No, I don't," admitted Fury, not smiling. "Where's Coulson?"

"Dunno. We need to get Octopus out of here before he wakes up again, though," Spider-Man told him. "He's not hard to defeat when there are four of us, but it's easier if there aren't so many people here. I don't want him to use one of these people as a human shield or something."

Fury nodded. He spoke into a communicator on his wrist. "Pick us up," he commanded. He looked back to the four heroes. "I think we should bring Octopus up to the helicarrier and interrogate him so that we can find out White Tiger's location."

"I agree," said Power Man.

The other three nodded. Spider-Man wanted to do it most of all. He wanted to find White Tiger and get his revenge on both Taskmaster and his employer.

Power Man grabbed Octopus's tentacles and began to drag him outside. The rest of the team and Fury followed. Coulson was standing in the middle of the street. The usual blue light appeared, and Peter opened his eyes. When he opened them, he saw himself in the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. Men and women bustled around with papers and other things like armor for new prototypes and cups of coffees for either themselves or friends.

Fury called some men over, who began to tie Octopus's tentacles together and then handcuffed him.

"Take him to the interrogation cell," Fury ordered.

The men nodded and dragged Octopus off to the interrogation cell, which, as Spider-Man understood, was deep inside the helicarrier. It was almost like an asylum down there.

"So what exactly happened at that diner?" Fury asked.

Spider-Man sighed. He explained all that had happened, but left out the conversation between him and the others and Coulson. That was more of a private thing that he did not want to tell Fury about. If he did, then he was sure Fury would explode at all of them.

At the end of his narration, Fury nodded and sighed himself. He hid his face between his hands, rubbing his temples.

"So what do we do now, Nick?" Spider-Man asked.

It was a bit before Fury finally answered him. Fury looked up and then said, "Right now, all we need to do is interrogate Doc Ock."

"So when do we go?"

"Right now."


	8. INTERROGATION CELL

**Hey guys, Sam here. I was just wanting to tell you guys that I am sorry I haven't been on for a bit, as I was working a lot and then I went to a church camp the 6th-10th of August, and we were in the middle of the woods, so there was, of course, no wi-fi. Now, if you guys wouldn't mind, I would love if you guys could review another story of mine, "The Legend of Spyro: Devil's Shadow." If you could I would be very happy. Now that I am back, expect a chapter every 1-2 weeks. Anyway, have a nice week, and God bless!**

* * *

CHAPTER 8: INTERROGATION CELL

Spider-Man made his way to the interrogation cell where Doc Ock was being held.

When he saw the cell, he balled his hand into a fist. He wanted so badly to punch Ock in the face for being one of those responsible for Ava's kidnapping. If it hadn't been for here, then Ava would still be with them.

When he arrived at the cell, Doc Ock looked up and smiled. "Hello, Spider-Man," he said. "Are you here to interrogate me?"

"I am," Spider-Man answered. "Tell me: why did you order Taskmaster to take White Tiger? And where the heck is she, Ock?"

Ock began to laugh. "I cannot reveal any of that, Spider-Man. "Are you going to kill me now?" Spider-Man stayed silent. "I never thought the amazing Spider-Man to be a killer."

"I think of myself more as spectacular, but that's beside the point, Ock," Spider-Man said gruffly. "Tell me now, where in the heck is White Tiger? I NEED TO KNOW NOW!"

Ock just laughed. "You are such a dim-witted freak. You shouldn't even be such a big hero as you are. What in the heck were you trying to do when you put on the suit and mask? Was it to just act like a hero, or was it to avenge someone?"

"It was to avenge someone, for your information. But all I want to know is where White Tiger is. TELL ME NOW, OCK!" Spider-Man roared. Behind him were the rest of the team, Fury, and Coulson, who were watching him closely. They, too, wanted to know where White Tiger was.

Doc Ock just lauged. "You'll never be able to find her. She's going to be killed before you can even pinpoint her location."

Spider-Man looked back over to Fury. "Open up the dang cell! It's time I get this over with!"

Fury hesitated, then moved to the controls for the cell. He pressed a large green button in the middle and the door of the cell opened.

Spider-Man entered the cell and walked in front of Doc Ock.

"Tell me, Doc, where is White Tiger? Tell me, or face the consequences!" He raised his fist.

"I will never tell you! She will die, and that is it! There is no darn thing that you can do about it!"

"Even if that is so, Octopus, I can always try, can't I?" Octopus opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. Spider-Man felt glee in being able to shut him up. He still hoped he could get the information of White Tiger's location before Octopus was shut up for good.

"I still will never tell you, and that is it, Spider-Man!"

Spider-Man punched Ock in the face. When his head came back up, blood trickled down his chin.

"So you want me to tell you, eh?" He gave a bloody smile. "Fine. I'll tell you. She is stuck in my new lab. It is also underwater, underneath the East River, but it is at the deepest part. You probably will never be able to find her. And if you do, then I will be the first to give you a congratulations." Ock threw back his and began to laugh maniacally.

Spider-Man, with his fists still at his side, walked out of the interrogation cell.

Fury was beside him. "How do we know if he's telling the truth?"

"I don't know," Spider-Man admitted. "But we will find her, and nobody is going to stop me."

"Nobody wants to," Fury told him. "We all want to find her, but what if he's telling a lie? We can't trust information from a lunatic like him."

"Sometimes lunatics are the right people to listen to."

"That can be true, but why a lunatic like Ock?"

"He is probably the one responsible for hiring all of the lunatics I have fought. That makes him the right person to get this information from."

"You mean that he may be the one who hired Taskmaster?" Fury's one good eye was wide open.

"Yes, he probably is," Spider-Man told Fury. "And this makes him all the more dangerous."

"So what are you going to do now?" inquired Power Man.

"I need to go to that base. When I get there, I will find Taskmaster, beat the crap out of him, and then I will save White Tiger and get her back here," Spider-Man explained.

"So should we prepare for submersion?" asked Fury.

"Yes, please," Spider-Man answered.

Fury nodded and walked away. There was an awkward silence. Minutes later, they heard Fury's voice saying, "All agents, prepare for submersion into the East River. I repeat, all agents, prepare for submersion into the East River."

A strange noise began to come from the engines, and then the S.H.I.E.L.D. trainees felt the helicarrier beginning to slope downward.

Spider-Man looked out a window near the cell and saw the East River coming into view.

This was it, he realized. This was when he would finally get Ava back. This was where he would get his revenge.

He felt the helicarrier beginning to submerge. Minutes later, he was looking at the bottom of the East River.

Fury walked back into the room and looked at them all.

"Well, we're here. Are you ready to get out and find White Tiger?" he asked Spider-Man.

"Not just yet. Taskmaster will probably be expecting us right now, because Ock hasn't returned to their little base. Are we right at the bottom?"

"Yes. We can look for the base a few hours and then we'll have to stop. After that, it's up to you to find it on your own. This is your crusade, after all. It's not ours, Spider-Man."

"I realize that," Spider-Man said. "And it'll only be me going. None of you guys are coming with me."

"Wait, what?" exclaimed Nova. "You gotta be kidding me, web-head! If you're serious, then I'm gonna punch myself in the face."

"I am serious, Nova," Spider-Man told him. "Don't punch yourself in the face though. There's no need for self-injury at the moment."

"Wow, you really are serious. And I thought you were kidding. Well, this sucks."

"It does, but I have to do what is right. And leaving Tiger behind is not the right thing to do."

"Exactly," agreed Iron Fist. "As I was once told, 'Soon we must choose between what is right and what is easy.'"

All of them nodded. Then Spider-Man went towards the door that led out of the room.

"Where are you going, kid?" asked Fury.

"I'm going to go get some sleep. Wake me up when it's time to search for the secret base." As he walked out of the interrogation room, he looked back at Ock, who was staring at the floor. A smile was on his face.

After exiting the room, Spider-Man made his way to his room. When he got to the door, it opened, and he entered.

He got ready for bed and lay down on his bed. Just as he closed his eyes and turned off the light, a picture of Ava entered his mind and then he thought, _Here I come, Ava!_


	9. THE SEARCH

Chapter 9: The Search

Peter could feel someone shaking him awake. He opened his eyes and saw Sam in front of him.

"What's going on?" he mumbled.

"Fury is about to begin the search for wherever Ava is being held," Sam answered.

At hearing that, Peter jumped right out of his bed. If Nick was doing that, then he would need to be there.

He put on his Spider-Man costume as quickly as he could. Along with Sam, he dashed to the main control room. When he entered, he saw Nick standing in front of a large monitor that seemed to be showing what a camera was filming out in the river. There was nothing but dark blue water and the sandy bottom. No large labs appeared out of the darkness.

"Anything show up, Nick?" Spider-Man asked.

"No, not yet, but something may show up soon," Nick answered. "I'm glad Sam woke you up. We could not have started this search if you were still sleeping. At the moment, none of the searching drones I sent out have picked anything up. But then again, they would've been found by Taskmaster and destroyed. We have our defenses ready to shoot at any enemy that wants to kill us. Is that good for you, Peter?"

"It is. Now it's time we begin the searching."

"I agree." He pulled out a small microphone and spoke into it. "Attention all agents, we will begin the search now. Prepare all search devices. Repeat, prepare all search devices."

"What do you mean by 'search devices'?" Spider-Man asked.

"In the control room, many of the agents have prepared some devices that will help us locate either Ava, Taskmaster, or the lab," Nick explained. "Without them, we can't do much. The helicarrier has its own search devices, but they're not exactly the most advanced. I'll have to get those things upgraded."

The room fell into silence. Nova stood in the corner, watching the dark water flow by on the monitor. Nothing appeared in the darkness. It was just water, water, and more water.

About fifteen minutes passed and still nothing appeared. Spider-Man wondered when they would finally see something appear. But just as he thought that, he saw a building.

It looked more like an observatory, and he realized that the building was actually a lab.

It was held up by five large supports that were stuck into the sand. The lab itself was almost half the size of the helicarrier. As soon as Spider-Man saw it, he knew that it was where Ava was being held. All he had to do now was get into the lab and find her and Taskmaster.

"There it is!" he exclaimed. "We need to get in there, Nick. Is there any way that you can help?"

"I can. I know that there will be defenses, and so I will be destroying those before you get in there," he said.

"Okay. But how close can we get before we have to start shooting at the defenses the lab has?"

"I don't know." Fury looked over at Nova. "Sam, go get Danny and Luke. We will be needing them for this. Quick, hurry!"

Nova dashed out of the room. A minute later, he came back in with Iron Fist and Power Man. Both of them were looking grim.

"What do you need us for?" Power Man asked.

"We'll need you both to help us if any enemies get on to the helicarrier. If any of them do get on, defeat them and let none of them get to the security room, which is where those that control the defenses are right now.

Nick then turned back to the screen. Spider-Man could see that they were getting closer to the lab. But just as they got within a hundred, a sonic blast split through the water. Luckily, the helicarrier had its shields up and so the sonic blast was repelled.

The blast hit one of the supports and the lab shook a little. Spider-Man wanted to yell at Nick to make sure that not of the repelled blasts hit the supports. If one of them cracked, then the entire lab could come tumbling down, destroying everything and killing everyone inside. And that would not be good, as Ava was still inside.

Suddenly, a missile was shot out of no where at the helicarrier. Though the shields repelled it, the helicarrier shook as the missile exploded seconds later.

Nick turned to Spider-Man. "How are we going to get you in there?" he asked.

"I don't know. Is there, like, a missile-proof escape pod laying around?" Spider-Man said.

"Well, now that I think of it, there may be one."

"Can I use it? I need to get in there now, Nick!"

"It's the only solution we have. I'll escort you to that part of the helicarrier. At least now I know that we are definitely one step closer to getting Ava back." He looked back at the other trainees. "You know what to do," he told them. Then he led Spider-Man out of the room. They went down a hallway and they then found themselves in front of a pair of double doors. Nick reached into his pocket and took out what looked sort of like a credit card. He walked over to the doors and slid the card through a device that resembled one of those check-out machines at check-out stations at a supermarket.

The door opened and Spider-Man saw what, in case of an emergency, would be used as an escape pod. But all Spider-Man could think of it as was a "rescue pod."

"Get into it," Nick told Spider-Man. "It should propel you into the lab. I don't know how to get you and Ava back here after defeating Taskmaster, but I am sure that Taskmaster also has an escape located somewhere in that lab."

"Yeah, probably. At least we both know we can get Ava back. Trust me, I will be coming back with her. Even if I don't live through the upcoming battle with Taskmaster, I will make sure Ava lives."

"I know you will, son," Nick said. He put his hand on Spider-Man's shoulder and grasped it firmly. "I have faith in you. Now go. Save the girl you love."

Spider-Man was about to make a remark, but he was shoved into the escape pod before he could say anything. As soon as he entered the pod, the wall closed behind him. He sat down and waited for the pod to be shot out at the lab.

A red light appeared, and all he could think was, _Here I come, Ava_.

And suddenly he felt the escape pod take off. The only thing he could feel was his stomach lurch. He closed his eyes and just waited to arrive at his destination. When he opened them, he heard the sound of steel tearing apart, and knew he was now inside the lab.


	10. SAVIOR

Chapter 10: Savior

Spider-Man got out of the escape pod and looked around, hoping to see some sign of White Tiger. But he could not see anything. Where was Taskmaster keeping her?

"Hello?" he called out. He knew it was a stupid thing to do, but he just wanted to battle Taskmaster and get White Tiger back. "Look, Taskmaster, I know you're here. I don't exactly want to cause you any trouble. Give me back White Tiger and I promise that you won't be harmed. Do you understand what I am saying?"

But he got no response back. He wondered if Taskmaster was even in the lab. He had to be, though, if those missiles had been shot at the helicarrier. And if Taskmaster was here, Ava was. That was all that Spider-Man knew.

He made sure to never think if Taskmaster had killed White Tiger before he could get to her. If he thought of that, then all he could do was despair and if he despaired, he would be easy to defeat in battle.

"Okay, I definitely know you're here, Taskmaster! Don't even try to hide from me! If you think you can keep this charade up, you've got another thing coming! You hear me?" he yelled.

Suddenly a ball of light came out of nowhere at him. His Spidey-Sense had gone off at the same moment, and he was able to dodge just in time. It hit a wall behind him, which cracked open. Water began flooding the lab. Spider-Man knew that if the lab took on too much damage, it would break off its supports and sink. If that happened, he could be killed, as well as Taskmaster and White Tiger.

"Okay, now I know you're still around here, Taskmaster! Now get your butt out here and fight me like the man you believe you are!"

Another ball of light appeared and hit the escape pod. It blew up in a shower of metal and sparks. Water came cascading in. The walls gave a groan and some of the rivets came undone, letting in even more water.

"Holy crap, you're just destroying your entire lab, Taskmaster!" Spider-Man yelled. "And I thought you wanted to live."

"I do want to live!" Taskmaster's voice roared. "But I WILL kill you, even if it means killing myself in the process!"

"That's fine, so long as you don't lay a finger on White Tiger during our final battle. Got that?"

"Why in the heck should I give a crap about what you're saying! She will die, and there is nothing you can do about it!"

Spider-Man knew that he had to find Taskmaster soon. He was around here, and he was surely near White Tiger. Once he found Taskmaster, he would find White Tiger.

Another blast came, but Spider-Man had spun his webbing first. To his surprise, the webbing caught the blast. He trapped the blast in a web orb and threw it back near where it had come. It hit a wall and exploded with a shower of metal.

"AHH!" screeched Taskmaster. He was obviously in pain. "You son-"

Spider-Man flung himself over to where the voice was coming from and came face-to-face with Taskmaster.

"Well, well, well. It seems we've come to the final part of this adventure," Spider-Man said. "Wouldn't you say so, Taskmaster?"

Taskmaster laughed. "You are naive, and I will kill you, and then I will kill her. Your death will destroy her. This I know," he rasped.

"Go ahead, attempt to kill me. All you'll succeed in is defeating yourself. I defeated you once. Your new ability won't help you this time."

Taskmaster grunted. He threw a punch, which Spider-Man easily caught. Spider-Man jabbed him in the stomach, but then Taskmaster was able to kick him in the chest. They repeated this for a minute, and then Taskmaster shot a blast at Spider-Man. He dodged, and felt metal blast apart behind him as he ran at Taskmaster, his fists clenched and anger flooding him.

Spider-Man understood everything now: this battle would continue until either the lab was destroyed and both of them were killed or either one of them were killed. In Taskmaster's thoughts, another way this battle could end would be for him to kill White Tiger. If he did that, then Spider-Man would have no reason to fight anymore. He would have lost all reason to live and fight. Spider-Man, meanwhile, knew the main way to defeat Taskmaster was to destroy his gloves, which he was sure were the main source of his energy blasts and shockwaves. When they were destroyed, then Taskmaster would be done for.

Taskmaster punched Spider-Man in the arm, and then kicked him through a door.

Spider-Man groaned, pain lancing up his body. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. Then he heard the shout.

"Spider-Man!"

He looked up to see who had called his name and saw White Tiger chained to a metal chair.

"Tiger! Oh thank God. I've come to rescue you."

"Well, it looks like you've still got to deal with Taskmaster. Break my chains and I'll help you out," she said.

Spider-Man got up, jumped behind the chair, and grasped the chain on her chair with both hands.

But before he could break it, Taskmaster appeared in the opening he had created when he had blasted Spider-Man. He was holding the sword he'd used to stab White Tiger the day he'd kidnapped her.

"Isn't this a nice reunion," Taskmaster rasped. "As nice as it is, you don't have much time left. In fact, I don't think either of you do."

Spider-Man snapped the chain halfway. She would have to do the rest.

Spider-Man lunged at Taskmaster and grasped him by the neck. Taskmasker jabbed him in the side with the hilt of the sword. As he did so, Spider-Man noticed a red ruby. Why did it seem so familiar to him?

He jumped out of the way as the sword came down. If he had not dodged, it would have hit his head. The next came at his arm, and this time the sword met its mark. But luckily only a small, bloody cut was created there.

_How much longer will this battle continue_? Spider-Man thought. _If I don't defeat Taskmaster soon, I could be killed! And if I die, it'll just make Ava so distraught that she won't be able to fight back! And if she won't be able to fight back, he'll just kill her_!

Spider-Man heard a small snap behind him. It was then that he knew White Tiger had escaped the chair. But when he turned around, he did not see her getting up. He realized her true intention was to look as if she was still chained to the chair. It probably wouldn't be until Spider-Man needed help when she would reveal to Taskmaster she was no longer chained to the chair.

_When I do reveal to him that I'm no longer chained to the chair, I'm going to kick his big fat butt_, White Tiger thought to herself.

"Get him, Spidey!" she encouraged. "Kick his fat, ugly butt!"

Spider-Man nodded at her. He had an idea in mind, but he wouldn't dare attempt it at the moment.

Taskmaster sent a blast of energy at Spider-Man. He dodged, and the blast exploded somewhere else. Suddenly the three of them heard the sound of rushing water.

How much water had seeped into the lab already? Was the lab beginning to break apart? If it did that, all three of them would be killed.

"Oh, Lord, no!" exclaimed Taskmaster. He turned his back to them. This was a very bad idea.

White Tiger jumped out of the chair and kicked Taskmaster in the back. With a grunt, Taskmaster fell to the floor. He rolled onto his back and stared in amazement.

"How did you get out?" he gasped.

"None of your business, butt-face. All I want to do is knock your brains out of your head and kill you," she said.

"Then why don't you?"

Without answering, she kicked him in the chest.

Taskmaster slid across the floor and hit a table. A beaker fell off and hit him on his left hand. Suddenly his hand caught on fire. He tried to put it out, and as he tried, White Tiger kicked him again, this time in the stomach. Taskmaster gasped for breath.

"How is this possible?" Taskmaster roared. "I am supposed to be better than all of you! How can either of you beat me!"

"It's because you don't understand that good always triumphs over evil, Taskmaster," Spider-Man answered. "When you finally realize that, hopefully it'll be the day you die."

White Tiger, with the last bit of strength she had left in her body, kicked Taskmaster right in the head. But as she did so, Taskmaster raised his burning hand and shot a blast of energy. The energy blast, mixed with fire, hit one of the walls, and water rushed right in and began to flood the entire lab.

The water came right to their feet. It put out the flames on Taskmaster's hand. Taskmaster began to laugh, and then his head hit the ground. Both Spider-Man and White Tiger knew he was now unconscious.

"Holy crap," yelled White Tiger. "That was a little bit easier than I thought. So how did-" She was cut off by another, much bigger explosion.

The water was pouring in. The walls and even floor were groaning. Could the lab implode at this depth?

And then Spider-Man and White Tiger heard it. The roar of an engine. Spider-Man looked out a window and saw the helicarrier coming toward them.

"We're going to be saved!" he exclaimed. "Come on, I need to get you out of here!"

"No, I'm not leaving without you, Spidey!" she said. "We're going to get out of here together!"

"But what if we both die?"

"Then at least we'll die with someone we trust. And-" White Tiger looked over at the unconscious body of Taskmaster- "one person that we really hate."

Spider-Man looked at her for a second, but before he could say anything, the helicarrier broke through the ceiling. Water flooded through, but the helicarrier seemed to stop it from hitting them.

There was the familiar blue light of the teleportation beam, and both Spider-Man and White Tiger closed their eyes. But then a hand closed over White Tiger's ankle. She looked down and saw Taskmaster. He wasn't going to let her leave the lab alive, obviously.

"You're coming with me to-" He was stopped from finishing as White Tiger kicked him across the face. At the same time, there was a loud snap, and White Tiger grunted in pain. But the kick had released Taskmaster's grip. The blue light brightened, and White Tiger and Spider-Man closed their eyes again. When they opened them again, they were in the helicarrier.

They heard footsteps and turned to see Nick Fury running toward them. But as he did so, White Tiger groaned and collapsed into Spider-Man's arms.


	11. REVEALED

**Chapter 11: Revealed**

Ava opened her eyes. She saw that she was no longer in the laboratory Taskmaster and Doctor Octopus had kept her locked up in.

She was instead in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier's infirmary. But where were the doctors? Where was her team? And where was Spider-Man?

She looked over to her left and saw the White Tiger mask. She guessed she was still wearing the costume.

Ava suddenly heard the sound of the infirmary doors opening and then closing. Nick Fury entered her field of vision.

"It's good to see that you're awake, Ava," he said. For one of the few times in her life she saw him smile. "I'm glad that you've returned to us."

"Yeah, thanks," she told him, her throat dry. "Where's Spider-Man? Peter, I mean."

"He's in his room. Well, it's where you and the other trainees sleep, but he's been sharing it with them during your...absence."

"Hopefully no one's touched my bed."

Fury laughed. "Don't worry, no one has. At least, I don't think that anyone has touched it."

Ava sighed. The infirmary doors slid open again and this time the other trainees entered. Spider-Man was not among them.

"Ava!" Sam ran at her and stopped right by her bed. "Are you feeling any better, Ava?"

"A bit," she answered. "Did you guys see Peter before you came down to see me?"

"Yeah, he was sitting on his bed. He said he'd be coming down soon, though," explained Luke. "I think something's wrong with him at the moment."

"Like what?"

"Well, he kind of blamed himself for your kidnapping."

"He did what? Why in the heck would he blame himself?"

"That's what I've wondered," Nick said. "I've been thinking, and now I've come to the conclusion that he might love you."

Ava stared at him for several moments in silence, her mouth agape.

"HE WHAT?" she finally exclaimed. "I mean-well, that's a bit of a stretch, isn't it, Director Fury?"

He smiled. It was one of the first times Ava had ever seen him smile.

"I think that it is the truth," he answered her. "But, then again, I may be terribly wrong. But for now, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I want you to tell me all that you went through after being captured by Taskmaster."

"Well..." But before she could get past that, the doors opened again and Peter entered the room.

"Hey Ava, how are you doing?" he greeted.

"Hey Pete, I'm doing okay, but I could be feeling a heck of a lot better," she said.

"Yeah, I bet you could. How much of a beating did Taskmaster give you?" he asked.

"Not much, but..." Her eyes widened and then she realized something. "Oh holy crap!"

"What?"

"My amulet! It's not with me, I just realized that!"

"Where could it be?" Fury asked. "Did you leave it back in the lab?"

It was Peter who answered this time.

"No, she couldn't have, because I didn't see her have it on while we fighting Taskmaster."

"Then where the heck could the amulet have gone?" Fury demanded.

Ava then realized another thing.

"He took it," she said.

"Who?"

She looked up at Peter. "You're not going to like this, but I'm going to continue with it anyway."

"Um...okay," he said, confused.

"The man who hired Taskmaster to kidnap me was Norman Osborn."

Silence fell around the room. Peter couldn't believe what his ears had just heard. _Norman Osborn?_

It didn't seem right. The dad of his best friend was the man who had hired Taskmaster and Doc Ock?

"Are you sure, Ava?" persisted Fury. "Couldn't it have been someone else other Norman Osborn?"

"No," she answered indignantly. "It had to have been him. He had even said, 'My son,' right after I mentioned that I knew who Harry Osborn was. That should be proof enough for you right there."

Silence fell around the room once again. Then Nick Fury cleared his throat and said to them, "I believe you. This is what will happen now. You and Spider-Man will go to Osborn Tower and talk to him. Force him to give up everything. Once we have that sort of information, then we can go in to arrest Osborn. Do the both of you understand my words?" He said the last part to both her and Spider-Man.

The both of them nodded. And now their plan was set.

* * *

Norman Osborn entered his office, located in his office building for his multi-million dollar company OsCorp.

As he entered and sat down at his large, mahogany wood desk, he heard a voice say, "Anything new, Osborn?"

"Who's there?" Osborn asked. There was no sense of fear in his voice. "I'll ask again! Who in God's name is there! Answer me, darn it!"

Spider-Man stepped out of the shadows.

"Oh, it's only you, Spider-Man. I thought that you were someone else, at first," Osborn sighed.

"I can see that," said Spider-Man.

"So what is it that you want? I am very busy at the moment."

"I wanted to know some things."

"Like what?"

"Like why you hired Taskmaster to kidnap White Tiger." The room suddenly went very cold.

"What do you mean?" Osborn finally demanded. "I didn't have any part in Taskmaster's kidnapping of your friend and his bringing of her to that underwater lab in the Hudson!"

"I never said anything about a lab beneath the surface of the Hudson River, Osborn."

Osborn's eyes widened. "Crap!" he growled. He had just given himself away. He wrenched open one of his drawers and pulled out a pistol. He pointed right at Spider-Man, aiming for his heart.

"So it _was _you. I never thought you would do such a thing," Spider-Man said in shock.

Osborn wrenched open another drawer and pulled out the emerald tiger amulet that belonged to White Tiger.

"I bet you want this, don't you?" he roared.

"I don't, but I think she might." Spider-Man pointed behind him, where Osborn now saw White Tiger standing.

Osborn, startled, shoved the amulet into his left pocket and attempted to pull the trigger of the gun, but was unsuccessful in doing so.

"Why won't this thing work!" he exclaimed.

White Tiger opened her right hand and three bronze bullets fell to the ground. Osborn's eyes widened and attempted to run to the door. Neither Spider-Man nor White Tiger attempted to stop him.

As soon as Norman threw open the large gold double-doors, Nick Fury appeared. Osborn backed away, not knowing what to do at that moment.

"You brought S.H.I.E.L.D. here?"

"They did, Osborn," Fury answered. "And don't try to deny what you have said here tonight. It has been recorded and now you are under arrest by the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, also know as S.H.I.E.L.D.."

"You tricked me!" roared Osborn. "How dare you do this to me! This will not hold up in court; I will escape from prison and I will get my revenge on you all for doing this to me!"

Suddenly Fury reached into Osborn's left pocket and took out the green tiger amulet. He threw it to White Tiger.

"Now everything is how it should be," said Fury. He and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents brought Osborn to the bottom of the tower.

Spider-Man and White Tiger followed them. When they had made it to the bottom, Spider-Man turned to White Tiger.

"I guess everything is back to normal now?" he asked.

"I guess so," she answered.

But before they could do anything else, they heard a familiar voice cut through the air.

"Dad!" it yelled. "Dad!"

They whirled around and saw Harry Osborn running to where Norman Osborn was being loaded up into the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.

"What are you doing with my dad?" demanded Harry.

"This is none of your business, young man," Fury told him.

"But that's my dad!" Harry cried.

"He is being arrested for being involved with several high-profile criminals," Fury finally gave in. "You must leave."

He made his way deeper into the Helicarrier. Spider-Man and White Tiger began to follow him.

"Spider-Man, you're in on this, too?" came Harry's shocked voice from behind. "Why? How?"

Both Spider-Man and White Tiger continued walking into the Helicarrier, not wanting to answer any of Harry's questions.

S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel moved Harry from where he was standing to the entrance of the building and then entered the Helicarrier. As the Helicarrier began to lift up into the sky and the walkway began to close up, Spider-Man saw Harry looking at him with a sad expression. Spider-Man just sat down and leaned back and knew that he could now rest, knowing that White Tiger was safe and the culprit responsible was now in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

He looked over at White Tiger, who held the amulet in her palm.

He then closed his eyes and began to rest, knowing that it would be a peaceful slumber.


	12. TOGETHER AGAIN

**Chapter 12: Together Again**

The next three days passed by without any real problems arising. Ava, whose injuries had quickly healed after the amulet had been returned to her, seemed to become her normal self again and returned to school.

Peter, meanwhile, felt two different emotions: happiness and sadness. The happiness was due to the fact that he now had Ava back with him, while the sadness was due to the fact that his best friend, Harry, had to deal with the fact that his father was now under S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and would not be released any time soon.

The day that Ava returned to Midtown High, all anybody could ask her was where she had been, as everyone there knew that she had once vowed to never be late for school or to ever miss a day of it.

Her answer was usually, "Oh, just had some family business to take care of at home." And that excuse was one that everyone bought.

Luckily for her, Principal Coulson (who was also a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent) convinced most of her teachers to not give her any homework when she returned to school.

The day that Ava returned, during her free period (which was also the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. trainees' free period) Peter came up to her while she was rummaging through her locker for what she would need the next period.

"So how are you doing?" he asked.

"I could be doing a heck of a lot better, to be honest," she answered. Peter nodded at that.

"We all could. But the one lucky thing that has come out of this is that the culprit is now behind bars, but of course, it comes with a consequence."

"Yeah. And that consequence is that Harry's father is now behind bars," said Ava. "And it's all thanks to us." She bowed her head.

Peter put his hand under her chin and lifted her head and stared into her hazel eyes.

"Ava, it wasn't your fault. And it wasn't mine, either. Those truly at fault were the people who did this all to you, and that would be Taskmaster and Norman Osborn," Peter explained to her.

"Yeah, but I feel so bad for Harry. I mean, he now has neither a father nor a mother with him. And I have no idea how long he'll have to deal with that," she explained to him.

She was about to say something else, but then suddenly, as she looked into Peter's blue eyes, she felt a sudden feeling. And before she could say anything else, his lips were touching hers.

When they finally broke apart, all that they could do next was just look at each other. Then Peter cleared his throat.

"Um, that was different," he said.

"Uh-huh," Ava agreed. "So do you have any plans for the rest of the week other than what we do pretty much every night?"

"Not really, other than hanging out with Aunt May or Harry or Mary Jane." Then suddenly Peter began thinking of Harry again and how he now had neither a father or a mother. But now was not the time to be thinking of that, he told himself. He had Ava back with him, and that was all that mattered.

"Do you want to go somewhere private?" he asked her. "Other than here?"

"Like where? There aren't that many places around here. At least not private places."

"How about the janitor's closet? The last time I saw him, he was asleep in the cafeteria. He won't be waking for a long time, probably not until the bell rings for the next period."

She agreed and they made their way to the janitor's closet. Peter opened it for her.

Once they had found somewhere to sit down (for Peter, it was a bucket, for Ava, it was a crate), all they could do for the next few minutes was sit in silence and stare either at each other or at the wall or one of the shelves of cleaning supplies.

Silence fell over them once again, and this time it was Ava who broke the silence.

"So how do you think Harry will act towards Spider-Man now that he thinks that it was him who put his father behind bars?"

"I don't know. He was pretty angry the last time we saw him. And he didn't even come to school today, either. That kind of worries me."

"Hopefully he doesn't become deranged or something. When he became upset at you, it was the first time I ever saw him act like that. I really hope he doesn't become like his father. I know that's a little mean to say, but you have to admit, it's the truth."

"I agree," Peter said. "I don't know why his father became a person of that sort. He used to be such a nice person. My guess is that he became that way as soon as I became Spider-Man. If it did happen at that time, he certainly hid that emotion well."

"You're telling me," Ava agreed. "But now, my guess is that Harry is going to try to get revenge on you. And maybe even me, too. If that happens, what are we going to do?"

"Well, unless he somehow gains superpowers or something of that sort, we'll be able to defeat him easily, or so I hope. But I really don't want to fight him at all, which is why I hope he won't go insane enough to try to kill us," Peter explained to her.

"He probably won't. But of course, we always need to be ready for what is to come."

Suddenly, before they knew it, they were once again kissing. And this time they did not want to stop. But they finally did as soon as the door that led outside opened and the janitor they nicknamed Stan appeared in the doorway.

When he saw Peter and Ava kissing, he exclaimed, "What in the heck is going on?"

"Uh...sorry!" both Peter and Ava said and ran out of the room before anymore questions could be asked.

When they had finally stopped and made sure that the janitor was not following them, they broke out in laughter.

"Well, that was definitely interesting," Ava mused. "I don't think I'll be trying that again. Or at least, not around here."

"Yeah, I agree."

The bell then rang, and both of them ran off to their respective classes. But as they both ran off, they knew that they would be seeing each other again that night. And neither of them could wait for the night to begin.

* * *

Spider-Man swung over the rooftops of New York. He looked down and saw White Tiger on top of one of the buildings.

He landed on the building next to her.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," she told him.

"Really? Usually, I'm able to surprise. Are you sure that I didn't surprise you this time?"

"I'm quite sure. I would have almost attacked you had you surprised me. And you know that's the truth."

"Yeah, I do. So anyway, how have you been tonight?"

"I've been having a very uneventful night. Nothing has been going on at all. But sometimes, that's not a bad thing. Especially not since this last set of events."

"Definitely. Have you recovered from the last set of events, at all?"

"Not fully. But I probably will, soon. I'm just hoping that nothing like this ever happens again. I put you through so much crap this time around, and yet you still came to save me. Exactly why is that?"

He put his hand on her shoulder. She turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"Do you know why I didn't give up while trying to save you?" he asked her in a gentle voice.

"Why?" she asked him.

"Because I love you."

For a moment Ava was lost for words, and then, before she realized it, she said, "I love you, too."

The next thing they knew, they were both kissing with their masks on the ground by their feet. When that night came to an end, they both left with the feeling that nothing bad would ever happen again and that they were both now madly in love.

**End of Book One**


End file.
